Don't Forget Me
by FoundersDaughter
Summary: What happens when a new profiler comes to the B.A.U? Will she be able to bring the Stoic Hotch out of his shell? M for swearing and possible lemons later.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: In now way shape or form do I own anything to do with CM!**

**Chapter 1**

**CPOV**

I looked up as I heard a knock on the doorframe of my storage closet sized office. In the doorway stood Chief Erin Strauss. "Ma'am." I said as I stood. "You're needed upstairs for an interrogation." She said tersely, I nodded, "Yes Ma'am. What department?" Strauss frowned as she took in my outfit. "The B.A.U. They have the man they suspect of killing the women in the DC area, but despite all their best tactics, they have been unsuccessful in their interrogations." I followed her out of my 'office' and down the corridors. "With all due respect ma'am, if they can't get him to confess, how do you expect me to?"

I followed her into the elevator. "You have no knowledge of this case, your fresh eyes and you have never failed before. Are you saying that you can't do this?" She fixed me with a stare, obviously hoping I would break down. _She'll be waiting a while. _I thought. "No ma'am, I didn't say that, I was merely just wondering if there was a hidden reason that's all." I shadowed her out of the elevator and watched as she stopped a man. "Anderson. Will you take Agent Raven down to Agent Hotchner and his team please? She's the interrogator their waiting for." She didn't wait for a reply as she turned and walked away. _And the witch has spoken. _

Instead of saying this out loud I asked, "Which room are they in?" As Anderson gestured down the right hand corridor, "Room 4, Agent." I smiled across at him, catching him looking away from me. I knew that I didn't fit the image of the stereotypical F.B.I. Agent or that of an interrogator. I was wearing black skinny jeans, a jade tank top, black cardigan and black four inch heels. I was also fairly young to be an agent at only 26.

There was no sound other than my heels as we walked down the corridor towards the interrogation room. "They are just through there Agent." I nodded and watched Anderson walk away. I ran a hand through my long black hair that was loose down my back, took a deep breath and walked into the viewing room. "I hear you need an interrogator?" I asked as I walked, watching the reactions.

All seven agents stared at me, the men doing the cursory once over. "Yeah, we do. When's he coming?" The dark skinned agent asked. "Well Agent Morgan." I started, my eyes flicking down to his I.D. Badge, "She's right here." I said smiling sweetly. "What's your profile?" I continued before he could finish processing that comment. "Classic Narcissist. He's intelligent, well-organised, methodical, competent and confident in his ability to kill. He takes jewellery from the victims as trophies, leaves the bodies in highly travelled areas and he enjoys and craves the attention and prestige that his kills are bringing him. Agent.. "One of the other men said, "Raven. Agent Hotchner. Do you have any photos I could look at? Crime scene when the body was discovered and the precautionary ones they take after the areas been processed please." I turned away and looked at the man I was soon to be interrogating.

I listened as someone cleared their throat, before asking, "What makes you so sure you can get him to talk, Agent Raven?" I turned away from the glass and let against the table stretching my legs out in front of me. "Well Agent Rossi, He is expecting one of your team to walk back in there. Someone who looks the part of the Agent, someone older, someone serious, in some variation of a business outfit. A stereotypical F.B.I. Agent. By sending me in there you're not only sending him off kilter by sending in an unknown entity, but also by sending me in you send in someone who couldn't be more out of place here. And my method of questioning is fairly different to yours. Thanks Penny." I finished as the best technical analyst in the bureau and my friend handed me my photos.

"You're welcome Cassie. I thought they were for you. You going to make him cry like a baby?" She asked, rubbing her hands together in an evil fashion. "I'm going to try, doubt he'll cry though. Shouldn't take too long." I said not looking up from flicking back and forth between the photos, looking at the differences. "You're awfully sure of yourself, almost cocky Agent." I looked up to see Agent Hotchner frowning at me."Am I?" I stood up, placed the file on the table and walked slowly forward, only stopping when the tips of my shoes touched his. I knew I was too far into his personal space, but from what Penny had told me, he didn't blink and rarely lost his cool.

_Must come from being a lawyer, damn he smells nice. _I thought as I looked at him, my head cocked slightly to the left, studying him. He was taller than me, with dark hair and dark eyes. It didn't take long before he started to dart his eyes around the room. "Do I make you nervous Agent Hotchner? Only you don't seem to be able to look at me." I smiled as he drew in a breath and stepped back. "No you don't make me nervous-" He began, but stopped when I giggled softly. "Sure I don't." I turned away from the agents, picked up the file and opened the door to the interrogation room.

"Hi there, may I?" I asked as I shut the door, gesturing towards the chair opposite the man at the table. "Sure it's your interrogation sugar." He drawled at me. I smiled softly, "Actually Mr Jackson, this is your interrogation. I'm just here to see if you can clarify a few things for me." I set the file on the table and laid out the photos in order before sitting down. "My name is Supervisory Special Agent Cassandra Raven. I work in another department in the Bureau, so I'm not linked to the people who brought you in." I drew a breath, watching his face before continuing. "I do listen to the profile that the B.A.U. gives, but I just focus on what I can see in evidence, plain and simple." I kept my voice soft as I spoke.

"The Agents in the other room told me what they thought about the killer. They told me that he was intelligent, well-educated as he knew exactly where to inflict the most damage, that he was confident, charming and quite possibly very handsome." I paused to look up at the man sat opposite me and he was good looking, _Not as good looking as Agent Hotchner. _I blinked, clearing my mind. I knew I had his attention as he was smirking and preening under all the praise from the profile. Now came my favourite part. I drew in a breath and began to damage his ego.

"Unfortunately, I think that they were being overly charitable. Just from looking at these photographs, I can see that, while there may be aspects of the profile within the murders themselves, it isn't there afterwards. I mean the killer takes jewellery from his victims as trophies, but in all 5 cases this killer is amateurish and clumsy enough to drop his trophy within a close proximity to his victim. He is obviously so scattered that he doesn't even realise that he's done it until the bodies have been discovered. Then he does the most unbelievably stupid thing and goes back to get the trophy, when surely he knows that the police presence will be so much higher. That to me doesn't say that he's clever, competent or well-organised. It's quite the opposite actually; it tells me that he is sloppy, amateurish and unintelligent. He's-"

I stopped suddenly as his hands slammed down onto the table. _Finally, I thought he was never going to snap._ I blinked and looked up at him blankly as he began to rant. "I am not sloppy! I am not stupid! I am clever! I avoided you after every murder. I avoided the cops at every crime scene. I am the best!" I stood and slid the photos back into the file. "Thank you Mr Jackson." He looked at me, "You're leaving already? You've only been here 5 minutes." He asked frowning. "Yes I'm leaving." I said as stood next to the table. "Why?"

I smiled at him and looked him in the eye, saying, "I'm leaving because you just told me you were the killer." His frown deepened. "No I didn't." He said shaking his head. I moved towards the door. "Yes you did. In all the things I said, not once did I say 'you'. I always said 'the killer' or 'he', but you personalised it." With that I opened the door and walked out, shutting it behind me. "Well done Agent Raven. That will be all." I looked up when Strauss spoke. I blinked, then laid the photos on the table. "Yes Ma'am, Agents." I nodded to the team and walked out of the room.

"Why did you dismiss her like that? We wanted to talk to her." I heard Agent Rossi say as I walked. Strauss's answer was lost as I continued down the corridor to the elevator. _When had she got there? I had only been in the interrogation room seven minutes and thirty four seconds. _As I reached my 'office' I sat down and thought back to before I had gone into the room. It hadn't registered at the time, but she had been stood in the doorway just behind Agent Hotchner when I was staring him down. _Dio! That woman infuriates me._ I shook my head and picked up the case file that I had been working on before she had interrupted me. _Great from a serial killer to a child molester, brilliant_! I thought sarcastically.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own it if you recognize it!**

**Chapter 2 **

**APOV**

We all stood watching Dave try one last time to get some kind of answer out of our killer, Ralph Jackson. He wasn't getting anywhere so he picked up his file and stormed out of the interrogation room slamming the door. "I take it you've made no headway on this then." We all span around to see Chief Strauss in the doorway. "No Erin we haven't. Not since you last asked twenty minutes ago. What is this hovering you're doing? You've never done this before." Dave exclaimed and we all held our breath to what would follow that outburst. Strauss simply said, "I'm considering bringing in another interrogator. It's clear you're getting nowhere. I'll be back with them shortly." She turned and walked away. We all sighed in relief. "Rossi, what was that? You never speak to anyone like that?" Morgan asked, running his hand over his bald head.

"This bastard is the unsub, I know he is, but we can't break him and that's getting to me." Dave sighed. We were all feeling the strain of this case, despite being able to go home in the evenings; it still used a lot of energy, although most of that came from having to deal with Strauss. "Guys, who do you, think she's gone to get?" Reid asked, making my lips quirk, that man was forever curious. "Peters maybe. He could crack this guy." J.J suggested. "Yeah, but Rossi could crack Peters." Prentiss added. I turned around watching Jackson through the glass, while shifting my shoulders trying to ease the tension in them_. What I wouldn't give to be able to have a massage right now._ I thought as I stared at the glass.

Through the open door I heard Anderson say, "Their just through there Agent." There was a pause and then instead of the masculine voice of one of the Bureau interrogators, a soft female voice asked, "I hear you need an interrogator?" I turned around and blinked. Stood in front of us was a petite woman, with Mediterranean colouring, long black hair and the most amazing green eyes_. She would be the perfect masseuse_. I thought as I stared at her, I then heard Morgan ask, "Yeah, we do. When's he coming?" I watched her eyes dip down to his badge as she spoke. "Well Agent Morgan. She's right here. "I drew in a breath as she smiled; it made her go from incredibly pretty to beautiful in a heartbeat. I heard her say, "What's your profile?"

"Classic Narcissist. He's intelligent, well-organised, methodical, competent and confident in his ability to kill. He takes jewellery from the victims as trophies, leaves the bodies in highly travelled areas and he enjoys and craves the attention and prestige that his kills are bringing him. Agent.. "I replied without thinking, trailing off not seeing a badge."Raven. Agent Hotchner. Do you have any photos I could look at? Crime scene when the body was discovered and the precautionary ones they take after the areas been processed please." I looked at Seaver, who phoned Garcia, repeating the request. We all watched her turn towards the viewing window, looking at Jackson. I flicked my gaze towards Dave when he cleared his throat. He then asked her the question we were all thinking.

"What makes you so sure you can get him to talk, Agent Raven?" We watched as she turned to face us, leaning against the table with her legs stretched in front of her_. God, they are long_. I thought as my gaze drifted down the length of them. I turned my attention back to her face as she began to talk. "Well Agent Rossi, He is expecting one of your team to walk back in there. Someone who looks the part of the Agent, someone older, someone serious, in some variation of a business outfit. A stereotypical F.B.I. Agent. By sending me in there you're not only sending him off kilter by sending in an unknown entity, but also by sending me in you send in someone who couldn't be more out of place here. And my method of questioning is fairly different to yours. Thanks Penny." I watched as Garcia gave her the file containing her photos.

She was right, she didn't look like an agent as she was dressed in skin tight black jeans, a green top, black cardigan and high heels. _How does she even walk in them?_ I refocused when I heard Garcia say, "Your welcome Cassie. I thought they were for you. You going to make him cry like a baby?" She asked, rubbing her hands together. Dave and I looked at each other, then back to the Agent as she said, "I'm going to try, doubt he'll cry though. Shouldn't take too long." She carried on looking at the photographs, flicking back and forth between them. "You're awfully sure of yourself, almost cocky Agent." My breath caught as her eyes focused on me when she looked up. "Am I?" she said as she stood, placed the file on the table and walked towards me, until she was standing toe to toe with me, but she still had to look up at me even with the heels she had on.

I had no idea what she was doing, but I could feel the heat coming from her body and the smell of her perfume was creeping into my senses. She tilted her head slightly to the left and my awareness of her shot up. After a minute or two I began to focus on other things around the room. I knew I had proved whatever it was that she was trying to prove when she said, "Do I make you nervous Agent Hotchner? Only you don't seem to be able to look at me." I took a step back and collected myself. She smiled when I began to reply with, "No you don't make me nervous-" she laughed softly, making me stop to listen to the sound. "Sure I don't." She replied as she turned away from me, picked up the file and opened the door to the interrogation room. "Hi there, may I?" She asked as she shut the door, gesturing towards the chair opposite Jackson. "Why ask him? He isn't in charge." Strauss asked as she walked into the room. We listened to Jackson's reply, "Sure it's your interrogation sugar."

"Actually Mr Jackson, this is your interrogation. I'm just here to see if you can clarify a few things for me." We watched her lay out the photographs on the table in front of him. "No she is in charge, but by asking him and telling him it's his interrogation, she has appealed immediately to his narcissistic tendencies. He may well let his guard down now. "Prentiss said as we watched her sit down and begin speaking."My name is Supervisory Special Agent Cassandra Raven. I work in another department with the Bureau, so I'm not linked to the people who brought you in." Cassandra kept her voice soft as she spoke, stopping to draw breath. "What is she doing? And what did I just walk in on Agent Hotchner?" I kept my eyes on the glass when Strauss spoke." She was showing us how she could unnerve someone as stoic as Hotch without saying anything and she's building a rapport." I heard Reid reply, Cassandra's voice catching our attention as she continued speaking.

"I do listen to the profile that the B.A.U. gives, but I just focus on what I can see in evidence, plain and simple. The Agents in the other room told me what they thought about the killer. They told me that he was intelligent, well-educated as he knew exactly where to inflict the most damage, that he was confident, charming and quite possibly very handsome." She paused, watching him preen at the praise. "What exactly is this going to accomplish? This is supposed to be an interrogation, not an ego-stroking and why isn't she using his name?" Strauss demanded hotly. "Ma'am she isn't ego-stroking, in fact she's going to do the opposite. Watch." Garcia said gesturing back to the other room.

"Unfortunately, I think that they were being overly charitable. Just from looking at these photographs, I can see that, while there may be aspects of the profile within the murders themselves, it isn't there afterwards. I mean the killer takes jewellery from his victims as trophies, but in all 5 cases this killer is amateurish and clumsy enough to drop his trophy within a close proximity to his victim." Seaver chose then to answer Strauss's comment. "By not using his name she isn't giving him the credit for his crimes." We looked back into the interrogation room; she hadn't changed the tone or volume of her voice once since she had entered the room.

"He is obviously so scattered that he doesn't even realise that he's done it until the bodies have been discovered. Then he does the most unbelievably stupid thing and goes back to get the trophy, when surely he knows that the police presence will be so much higher." "She's good, she found things we didn't, she's expanded the profile. We should talk to her about possibly moving up here" Dave suggested, I just nodded watching the interaction."That to me doesn't say to me that he's clever, competent or well-organised. It's quite the opposite actually; it tells me that he is sloppy, amateurish and unintelligent. He's-" She stopped suddenly as he slammed his hands down onto the table. _She got him to snap. _I thought in awe. "Wait. Let her handle this." I said to Morgan, who had moved towards the door. "Hotch, you can't be serious. You've seen what he does to women." Morgan replied as Jackson started to rant.

"I am not sloppy! I am not stupid! I am clever! I avoided you after every murder. I avoided the cops at every crime scene. I am the best!" Dave whistled, "She got a confession. Now we really need to talk to her about transferring." The rest of the team murmured in agreement, as we watched her stand and collected the photos back into the file. "Thank you Mr Jackson." He looked at her, "You're leaving already? You've only been here 5 minutes." He frowned when she nodded and said, "Yes I'm leaving." "Why?" She smiled at him and looked directly at him, saying, "I'm leaving because you just told me you were the killer." We all watched his frown deepen. "No I didn't." He said shaking his head. She moved towards the door. "Yes you did. In all the things I said, not once did I say 'you'. I always said 'the killer' or 'he', but you personalised it."

She opened the door, closing it softly behind her. _God she's good. _However before we could congratulate and thank her, Strauss said, "Well done Agent Raven. That will be all." She looked at Strauss, blinked, then laid the photos on the table, saying, "Yes Ma'am, Agents." She nodded at us and walked out of the room, "Why did you dismiss her like that? We wanted to talk to her." Dave exclaimed. "I dismissed her because her job was done and you really didn't need to talk to her at all. I expect your reports by the end of the day." With that Strauss turned and left. "Do you get the feeling Strauss doesn't want her to leave where ever she is?" Prentiss asked.

"Of course she doesn't want Cassie to leave unsolved cases. Cassie has solved some of the longest standing open cases and I've seen her current cases workload, she solves between 10-15 of those a week. As well! Everything from fraud to murder. Strauss keeps her in an office no bigger than that room and she doesn't complain. Why would Strauss let her above ground? She may as well be keeping Cassie in a cage!" Garcia ranted, before turning and storming out of the room.

"Wow. I don't think I have ever seen Garcia that worked up. Do you think she's right?" J.J asked. I looked at Dave and he nodded, "I have no idea, but I'm going to find out." I said as I walked out of the room and went to find Garcia. I knocked on her office door. "Yes, Sir." She said when I walked in. "Where is Agent Raven's office Garcia? I want to go and thank her for what she just did." I looked at her. "You go down 5 floors, second right, down the corridor, then left and it's the last office, boss man." Garcia smiled as I nodded and said, "Thank you, Garcia." I turned and walked out of her office and towards the elevators. _Please let Garcia be wrong. No one should be exploited like that. _I thought as I walked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything about CM but I do love playing with the characters :) Reviews are most welcome, flames will be used to cook s'mores on!**

**Chapter 3 **

**CPOV**

For the second time that day I looked up to a knock on the door frame of my 'office'. I turned my head to find Agent Hotchner standing in my doorway, eyes wide in shock. "Agent Hotchner, How can I help you?" I asked as he stood there. I frowned slightly and stood up to walk towards him. At my movement he focused and said, "How the hell can you work in here?" I shrugged, "I guess you get used to the limited space and the cold." I smiled slightly, "But I'm sure you didn't come down here to ask that, did you?" He shook his head and walked in the door, which drastically reduced the space in the room.

"No your right I didn't come down here for that. Although something Garcia said did make me curious." I chuckled as his eyes darted around to the piles of cases and maps tacked to the wall. "Yeah Penny is a little over protective of me. What can I do for you Agent Hotchner?" He looked back at me, "Call me Hotch, Agent Raven and I wanted to thank you for what you did for us, it's possible we wouldn't have been able to do what you did in the timescale that we had." He chuckled slightly. I smiled, "Please its Cassie and your welcome. I didn't really do anything, you did the hard work." I replied with. "No you did a lot more than you think. Do you have time to come up stairs again, the team would like to ask you a few questions about your methods and how you knew what you did."

I looked back at the case on my desk, "Um sure. It would probably do me some good to get away from this case and come back with fresh eyes." He smiled, "That sounds like a good idea, letting a case get all consuming can take its toll on you." Hotch gestured for me to precede him out of the door, I shut the file and walked in front of him. "Have you ever worked in any of the other departments?" He asked as we got in the elevator. I shook my head, "Not officially, I mean I did work one case just after I graduated from the academy, but that didn't end well and I was placed where I am now." I thought back to what had gone wrong and absently placed my hand on my stomach just below my ribs.

"What happened?" He asked as we walked out of the elevator and through the glass doors into the B.A.U. Bullpen. "Oh um, I got shot." I murmured. "I'm sorry you got what?" He asked looking down at me, I looked up and said clearly, "I got shot by the unsub." I flushed slightly at his horrified look and focused elsewhere in the room. "Cassie!" I turned to find Penny coming towards me. "Hey cara. How are you?" I asked as she hugged me, "I'm good, you?" I shrugged, "Still breathing, so I can't really complain." I winked at her and turned at the choked sound that Hotch made. "Are you ok?" I asked, he nodded and walked around the pair of us, "My team in the round room please." He said before walking off towards said room.

"Did I say something?" I asked Penny as she linked her arm through mine, "No, He gets like this sometimes. Come on I want to introduce you properly to my chocolate god." She said giggling and tugging me towards the room. "Well anyone who can get such high praise from you is surely worth meeting then." I laughed with her as entered the room. "Everyone this is my very beautiful Italian friend Cassie. Cassie these are my little lambs. You've already met the boss man, the Italian super-agent sat next to him is Dave Rossi, then the blonde next to him is my newest lamb Ashley Seaver. Next to her is our very own J.J. Jareau, then you have our very own genius Dr Spencer Reid with the brunette next to him being Miss Emily Prentiss. Then best for last, you have my chocolate god Derek Morgan." She introduced them all in a serious tone despite not being that serious.

I coughed to hide my giggles and smiled, "Nice to meet you all. You must be incredibly special to warrant that kind of introduction." Morgan laughed, "Well Baby Girl is one of a kind." I smiled, "That she is." Rossi looked at me and asked, "Il tuo italiano? Sul cui lato?" I smiled, "Sì e su mia madre." He nodded, "Qual è il suo nome di famiglia?" I felt my smile falter slightly, "Bertinelli, My mother is Helena Bertinelli. Although you'll be hard pressed to get her to admit to that." I said, feeling slighty embarassed by it all. I looked at the shocked look on all the faces in the room. "But she only has two children. How can you be her daughter?" Emily said. "No she had twins first, but for some reason didn't want me. Maybe because despite being the older twin, I was the smaller one. If it hadn't been for my dad we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. I don't think that Helena's family knew she had had twins until the divorce case as I never went to see them in London. Actually I've still never met them." I told them, _Dio papa, why did you make me so honest._

"What did your dad think of that? I mean surely he must of objected?" J.J asked, I nodded, "Yeah he did, but he was a Marine so for the first few years of my life he was often overseas. So he couldn't really do anything about it. That and Helena was never really obvious with her hatred for me." I shrugged, I had given up letting it bother me. "You sound almost like you don't care. Like it doesn't bother you that your own mother hates you." Seaver said to me, I smiled wryly, "No I don't particularly care, If my dad wasn't there I wouldn't have known I had a name, Helena used to call me Freak. But my dad more than made up for her. Especially after we moved out to San Diego." I replied.

"Why does it get better then?" Reid asked, I sighed and slumped into the chair next to Hotch. Penny shut the door softly before sitting next to Morgan. "It gets better because the abuse and the neglect stop. I was finally able to be myself. I was allowed to eat, to have fun. I wasn't constantly watching my back wondering if I was going to get slapped by my _mother _or bitten, slapped, kicked or worse by my _sister._" I said practically snarling the words 'mother' and 'sister'. "The whole divorce was instigated by my dad no matter what Helena told the papers. The reason stated on the papers is 'gross abuse and neglect of a child'. My mum first hit me on February 12th 1991, the same day my dad was taken off active duty because of a near fatal injury. It continued until April 10th 1993, when my dad came home early from a training day and caught Helena hitting me for asking for a cup of juice."

I paused for breath. "He had obviously never heard or seen her act like this before, so hearing her call me a worthless freak and telling me that I was unlovable and that she wished I had died was something new for him. Despite being in the Marine's and being a P.T. Trainer dad never raised his voice or got angry, but the tone of voice he used that day was chilling. He basically threw Helena out and then told her to take Isabella when she bit me hard enough to draw blood." I showed them the slight scar I had on my right arm. "After that it all got better, Dad got custody of me and we and my nana moved out to the Coronado Base in San Diego. Where dad taught P.T and firearms handling." I looked around the room their shock was evident on their faces. _Oh Hell. Please don't pity me._

I felt the tension creeping across my shoulders. I rolled them out and focused on any other topic. "However I do believe that you wanted to know something other than my life history. Hotch said something about my methods? "I looked over at him and I relaxed in relief when he nodded, letting the topic change."Yes, you noticed things within the photos that we didn't. We looked over them and we still can't find out how you knew what you did about the jewellery." Rossi said as he lent forward. This made me smile, "It's kind of my thing spotting differences. I have a condition called Hyperthymesia, which basically means that I have an autobiographical memory. I can recall anything from my life in near perfect detail. So anything I have ever seen, touched, tasted, heard or smelt, I only have to experience it again to trigger a recollection of that event. Basically I can do anything with my memory but forget. So when I look at a photo and then look at one taken later I can tell you the differences." _Oh god please don't be like Strauss._

I looked around at them, worried about how everyone but Penny, would take it. "Wow and I thought Reid's memory was brilliant." J.J exclaimed. "Well technically it is, I'm just not that good." Reid replied, flushing when I looked over at him, curious, "I have an eidetic memory, mainly linked to things I've read."_That explains things, _I thought as I nodded, "So what exactly did you do to make him crack like he did?" Prentiss asked. This made me smirk. "Well despite what they think most men have some narcissistic tendencies, their ego's being one of them. So if you insult them enough eventually they get mad and when you act like their name isn't that important, like you can't be bothered it really irritates them for some reason. And on top of that if you go in acting very feminine, soft voice and all smiles and do it, well their feeling of manliness just goes out the window."

Penny laughed, "Sorry did I not mention that my very beautiful Italian friend was purely evil? Isn't she great?" All of the women laughed at this as the men stared; _I can't believe they didn't notice this?_ Morgan chose then to exclaim, "We so do not have narcissistic tendencies!" I snorted, "Uh yeah, you so do. I spent 19 years on a military base; believe me when I say you boys totally do. That's actually where I learnt it. It's something they do with the new recruits, but I learnt it from boys poker night, where its guys only but there from a few different areas, you know Seals, Marines and Naval officers. The seals do it to find out what the others cards are. I'm there mainly as some kind of referee; it can get a little out of hand. It's all kind of like reverse psychology." I shrugged_. _

"Now that is genius. So how does your interrogation technique work on women?" Rossi asked, smirking, which I of course answered with another smirk. "Well in a case like that, I hate to say but I channel my inner Brit and I get snobby and do exactly the same thing. Reduce their ego. Most women, myself included, hate being talked down to. It really irritates us. But with women if you're spoken down to by someone with an accent that is a little bit posher than their own, it really gets irritating. Add in the whole 'I don't really care about you' attitude then you have an ability to crack even the most hardened person." I smiled. "Now that's genius." Emily said, smirking.

I nodded, "Yeah it is, it often only works coming from the unassuming person though. Many people no matter the crime that they have committed will automatically assume some kind of mind game from a more obviously dominant person, so in this room it would be from Morgan, Hotch, Rossi, Emily and possibly J.J. However the less serious you look the less likely they are to suspect anything when you play a mind game. So if Reid or Ashley were to do it there may be some suspicion as you both dress the part of an Agent, but get Penny, or like earlier me, doing it and no one suspects a thing. You know because we're so damn cute." I shuddered at the word cute, _Who ever thought of that word should be shot; so many better words could have been invented to mean the same thing._

"I hear you; no one ever takes me seriously." Penny said, sighing like she had no idea why. I snorted, "Yeah can't imagine why Penny, it's not like you dressed in really bright colours or answer the phone with some kind of smartass remark." My sarcastic remark made everyone laugh and caused Penny to lean over and hit me. "Ow! Did you see that? See what I have to put up with?" I exclaimed clutching her arm, faking that it hurt, causing everyone to laugh even more. Morgan chuckled, "Now Baby girl don't hit other people, especially the ones who can referee a poker match between big guys." They all turned to look at me, clearly wondering how I could do it, "How do you control them if they get rowdy? I mean you can't be much over 5 foot 4." Reid asked, I could tell they didn't think I could fight anyone. _How wrong they are._

"I am exactly 5 foot 4. And not many guys will misbehave if you point a 9mm glock at their crotch." I shrugged, like it was obvious how I did it. "Oh now that is viscous. Do you actually have the gun or is it just a warning?" Morgan asked shifting his chair under the table. I smirked at the movement and said, "Thanks for making the shot easier Morgan. The gun is on display, in its holster and they all know how accurate I am with it." I laughed when Morgan shifted to sit a little behind Penny, clearing thinking I had actually got a shot. This movement and the comment caused everyone to chuckle.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with CM. **

**A/N: Updates will be slow as I will rarely have the time to write as I am working Summer camp until the end of August! So please forgive me if I go long periods of time without updating, please be patient and I promise to update as soon as possible! Thanks :)**

**Chapter 4**

**APOV**

I walked down the corridor that Garcia had told me Agent Ravens office was on. _God its cold down here, how can she stand it?_ I thought as I reached the last office. There was no name next to the door frame. There wasn't even a door. I looked into the office while knocking on the doorframe. Inside there was barely any room, the desk was crammed in the back corner with barely enough room between it and the wall for the chair and the Agent sat in it. "Agent Hotchner, How can I help you?"

I heard her asked but I couldn't even move I was so shocked at where she had to work. Agent Raven stood and the movement helped me to focus on her before exclaiming, "How the hell can you work in here?" She shrugged, "I guess you get used to the limited space and the cold." She smiled slightly, "But I'm sure you didn't come down here to ask that, did you?" I shook my head and stepped in the door, which drastically reduced the space in the room.

"No your right I didn't come down here for that. Although something Garcia said did make me curious." She chuckled as I looked around the room looking at all the piles of cases and maps tacked to the wall. "Yeah Penny is a little over protective of me. What can I do for you Agent Hotchner?" I looked back at her as she spoke_, All this Agent stuff has to stop._ "Call me Hotch, Agent Raven and I wanted to thank you for what you did for us, it's possible we wouldn't have been able to do what you did in the timescale that we had."

I chuckled slightly and she smiled, "Please its Cassie and your welcome. I didn't really do anything, you did the hard work." I watched her smile and thought; _She really has no idea how brilliant she is._ "No you did a lot more than you think. Do you have time to come up stairs again, the team would like to ask you a few questions about your methods and how you knew what you did."

She looked back at the open case file on her desk, "Um sure. It would probably do me some good to get away from this case and come back with fresh eyes." He smiled, "That sounds like a good idea, letting a case get all consuming can take its toll on you_." Like you did with Foyet_. I thought as I turned and gestured for her to lead the way out of the office, she flipped the file shut and walked out. "Have you ever worked in any of the other departments?" I asked as we got in the elevator, curious as to why she would be in such a dead-end job for someone of her obvious talent.

She shook her head, "Not officially, I mean I did work one case just after I graduated from the academy, but that didn't end well and I was placed where I am now." I watched her face take on an absent look and she placed a hand on her stomach. "What happened?" I asked as we walked out of the elevator and through the glass doors into the B.A.U. Bullpen. "Oh um, I got shot." She murmured, I looked down at her surely I had misheard her. "I'm sorry you got what?" I asked watching her face, She looked up at me and said clearly, "I got shot by the unsub." She flushed as I stared at her, horrified that someone had allowed her to get shot.

"Cassie!" Garcia's exclamation brought me out of my shock. I turned to watch her walk towards us. "Hey cara. How are you?" Cassie asked as they hugged, "I'm good, you?" I watched her shrug before saying, "Still breathing, so I can't really complain." I choked on the breath I had just taken; surely she hadn't just said that. "Are you ok?" She asked me and I simply nodded and walked around them, "My team in the round room please." I said, walking towards the room still in shock.

"You ok Hotch?" Prentiss asked me as I walked into the room and sat down, facing the door. "I don't know. I mean everything Garcia said was true. And Cassie just told me something shocking then. So I don't really know how to take it." I said leaning back in my chair. "What did she say?" Reid asked, I shook my head it wasn't mine to tell and I didn't even know the whole story. I looked up at the sound of her laughter as she and Garcia walked in arm in arm. "Everyone this is my very beautiful Italian friend Cassie. Cassie these are my little lambs. You've already met the boss man, the Italian super-agent sat next to him is Dave Rossi, then the blonde next to him is my newest lamb Ashley Seaver. Next to her is our very own J.J. Jareau, then you have our very own genius Dr Spencer Reid with the brunette next to him being Miss Emily Prentiss. Then best for last you have my chocolate god Derek Morgan." Garcia introduced us all in turn.

I could feel a smile tugging at my lips as I watched Cassie cough to hide the giggles before smiling, "Nice to meet you all. You must be incredibly special to warrant that kind of introduction." Morgan laughed, "Well Baby Girl is one of a kind." She smiled, "That she is." Dave looked at her and asked, "Il tuo italiano? Sul cui lato?" She smiled, "Sì e su mia madre." He nodded, "Qual è il suo nome di famiglia?" I watched her smile falter slightly, "Bertinelli, My mother is Helena Bertinelli. Although you'll be hard pressed to get her to admit to that." I had no doubt that we all were shocked at that revelation. _What was the child of a Bertinelli working here for?_

"But she only has two children. How can you be her daughter?" Emily said clearly having got over her shock. "No she had twins first, but for some reason didn't want me. Maybe because despite being the older twin, I was the smaller one. If it hadn't been for my dad we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. I don't think that Helena's family knew she had had twins until the divorce case as I never went to see them in London. Actually I've still never met them." I couldn't believe what she was saying, _Why wouldn't anyone want this beautiful woman._

"What did your dad think of that? I mean surely he must of objected?" J.J asked, She nodded, "Yeah he did, but he was a Marine so for the first few years of my life he was often overseas. So he couldn't really do anything about it. That and Helena was never really obvious with her hatred for me." I watched her shrugged, how could she act so nonchalant and how could her father have not noticed. "You sound almost like you don't care. Like it doesn't bother you that your own mother hates you." Seaver said to her, of course this would be a sore spot for Seaver considering her own family background. "No I don't particularly care, If my dad wasn't there I wouldn't have known I had a name, Helena used to call me Freak. But my dad more than made up for her. Especially after we moved out to San Diego." She replied.

"Why does it get better then?" Reid asked, Cassie sighed and slumped into the chair next to me. Garcia shut the door softly before sitting next to Morgan. "It gets better because the abuse and the neglect stops. I was finally able to be myself. I was allowed to eat, to have fun. I wasn't constantly watching my back wondering if I was going to get slapped by my _mother _or bitten, slapped, kicked or worse by my _sister._" She said the words 'mother' and 'sister' sarcastically like she wanted no association with them, which was fair. "The whole divorce was instigated by my dad no matter what Helena told the papers. The reason stated on the papers is 'gross abuse and neglect of a child'. My mum first hit me on February 12th 1991, the same day my dad was taken off active duty because of a near fatal injury. It continued until April 10th 1993, when my dad came home early from a training day and caught Helena hitting me for asking for a cup of juice."

She paused for breath. "He had obviously never heard or seen her act like this before, so hearing her call me a worthless freak and telling me that I was unlovable and that she wished I had died was something new for him. Despite being in the Marine's and being a P.T. Trainer dad never raised his voice or got angry, but the tone of voice he used that day was chilling. He basically threw Helena out and then told her to take Isabella when she bit me hard enough to draw blood." She showed them the slight scar she had on her right arm. "After that it all got better, Dad got custody of me and we and my nana moved out to the Coronado Base in San Diego. Where dad taught P.T and firearms handling." I looked at her, shock evident on my face. _Dear lord she has been through so much. _

She rolled her shoulders as if shaking off the memories."However I do believe that you wanted to know something other than my life history. Hotch said something about my methods? "She looked over at me and I nodded, letting her change the topic."Yes, you noticed things within the photos that we didn't. We looked over them and we still can't find out how you knew what you did about the jewellery." Dave said leaning forward slightly. Cassie smiled, "It's kind of my thing spotting differences. I have a condition called Hyperthymesia, which basically means that I have an autobiographical memory. I can recall anything from my life in near perfect detail. So anything I have ever seen, touched, tasted, heard or smelt, I only have to experience it again to trigger a recollection of that event. Basically I can do anything with my memory but forget. So when I look at a photo and then look at one taken later I can tell you the differences."

She looked around at us, obviously worried about how we would take it. "Wow and I thought Reid's memory was brilliant." J.J exclaimed. "Well technically it is, I'm just not that good." Reid replied, flushing slightly at when Cassie looked over at him, "I have an eidetic memory, mainly linked to things I've read." Cassie nodded, "So what exactly did you do to make him crack like he did?" Prentiss asked. Cassie smirked, shocking me. "Well despite what they think most men have some narcissistic tendencies, their ego's being one of them. So if you insult them enough eventually they get mad and when you act like their name isn't that important, like you can't be bothered it really irritates them for some reason. And on top of that if you go in acting very feminine, soft voice and all smiles and do it, well their feeling of manliness just goes out the window."

Garcia laughed, "Sorry did I not mention that my very beautiful Italian friend was purely evil? Isn't she great?" All the women laughed at this as we stared at them, _I don't know if great is the word I would use, Sexy maybe. Wait what?_ I filed that thought away for later. "We so do not have narcissistic tendencies!" Morgan exclaimed. Cassie snorted, "Uh yeah, you so do. I spent 19 years on a military base; believe me when I say you boys totally do. That's actually where I learnt it. It's something they do with the new recruits, but I learnt it from boys poker night, where its guys only but there from a few different areas, you know Seals, Marines and Naval officers. The seals do it to find out what the others cards are. I'm there mainly as some kind of referee, it can get a little out of hand. It's all kind of like reverse psychology." She shrugged_. _

"Now that is genius. So how does your interrogation technique work on women?" Dave asked, smirking, Cassie answered with another smirk. "Well in a case like that, I hate to say but I channel my inner Brit and I get snobby and do exactly the same thing. Reduce their ego. Most women, myself included, hate being talked down to. It really irritates us. But with women if you're spoken down to by someone with an accent that is a little bit posher than their own, it really gets irritating. Add in the whole I don't really care about you attitude then you have an ability to crack even the most hardened person." She smiled. "Now that is genius." Prentiss said, smirking.

Cassie nodded, "Yeah it is, it often only works coming from the unassuming person though. Many people no matter the crime that they have committed will automatically assume some kind of mind game from a more obviously dominant person, so in this room it would be from Morgan, Hotch, Rossi, Emily and possibly J.J. However the less serious you look the less likely they are to suspect anything when you play a mind game. So if Reid or Ashley were to do it there may be some suspicion as you both dress the part of an Agent, but get Penny, or like earlier me, doing it and no one suspects a thing. You know because we're so damn cute." She shuddered at the word cute, _Well I can think of a few better words to describe her, starting with amazing and sexy._

"I hear you; no one ever takes me seriously." Garcia said, sighing like she had no idea why. Cassie snorted, "Yeah can't imagine why Penny, it's not like you dressed in really bright colours or answer the phone with some kind of smartass remark." Cassie's sarcastic remark made us all laugh and Garcia lean over and hit her arm. "Ow! Did you see that? See what I have to put up with?" Cassie exclaimed clutching her arm, causing us all to laugh even more. Morgan chuckled, "Now Baby girl don't hit other people, especially the ones who can referee a poker match between big guys." We all looked at Cassie, "How do you control them if they get rowdy? I mean you can't be much over 5 foot 4." Reid asked, I looked over at her and couldn't imagine her fighting anyone.

"I am exactly 5 foot 4. And not many guys will misbehave if you point a 9mm glock at their crotch." She shrugged, I winced. "Oh now that is viscous. Do you actually have the gun or is it just a warning?" Morgan asked shifting his chair under the table. She obviously notices the movement because she said, "Thanks for making the shot easier Morgan. The gun is on display, in its holster and they all know how accurate I am with it." She laughed when Morgan shifted to sit a little behind Garcia, which caused everyone to chuckle.


End file.
